


Humanity

by EmblemFire



Series: McHanzo Week 2017: The Gays Return [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blackwatch Jesse McCree, Cyborg Hanzo Shimada, Denial of Love, Love Confessions, M/M, McHanzo Week 2017, Mental Health Issues, Pre-Fall of Overwatch, Reverse Dragons AU, Self-Hatred, Trust Issues, Where Hanzo is killed by the elders after refusing to kill Genji
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2017-06-19
Packaged: 2018-11-16 10:25:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11251233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmblemFire/pseuds/EmblemFire
Summary: Hanzo's mental state had been worsening as of lately, and everyone had been trying whatever they could to help him try and stay stable. Jesse was trying his hardest out of all of them.





	Humanity

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is the McHanzo Week Day 2 prompt: Canon Divergence/Alternate Universe! I tried my hand last year with a genderswap, and with the release of Hanzo's cyber skin I was left with intense desire to make a Reverse Dragons AU this time around. In this timeline, Hanzo refused to kill Genji at the demand of the elders, so they killed him instead for defying their wishes. Their plan was to make Genji into the new heir after Hanzo suddenly "passed away", but Genji escaped the clan and is now on the run from them as Hanzo was taken in to Overwatch in return for his life. Hanzo isn't very pleased with this outcome, and wants to ensure that Genji is ok rather than serve for an organization he doesn't care all too much for. That's the central idea for this version of the story, so I hope you enjoy!

The health of their latest recruit had been declining at an alarming rate.

  
Angela had no way to help comfort him, either. She had done this to him, and he ignored her as much as possible when it wasn't for check ups or training sessions. He was only a weapon, just as he was in his former life. A means of intimidation, a scare tactic, not a human being. His information as the heir of the Shimada Clan was useful to them, but not when he was silent.

  
Being found near dead, abandoned in a Hanamura alleyway, was not what they were expecting when they heard about a new recruit being located. Hanzo Shimada, forsaken by the elders that once guided him and being sliced until his body was one large pool of blood was not something that they were ready for, but they took him in regardless and offered him a deal.

  
It was more of a forced deal than an offered one, in Hanzo's and many other peoples' views.

  
They would rebuild his body and let him live if he joined the ranks of Overwatch and gave them information on his criminal empire. Angela protested the idea, saying that she had already fixed Hanzo as best as she could and didn't want to condemn him to a service he didn't desire. Hanzo had voiced that he didn't want to be idle while his brother was still stuck in the clutches of his family, but Petras wouldn't relent, so the deal was made and he was put under the wing of Gabriel Reyes. The head of Blackwatch tried to make it easy on him, but Hanzo remained cold and distant, loathing himself seemingly every moment of the day for not being strong enough.

  
So Jesse McCree took it into his own hands to fix the issue.

  
Asking Hanzo about how he was feeling, offering drinks and a person to chat with, making him feel human rather than different. It did its part to assist Hanzo in improving, along with Lena's rambling that never fell on deaf ears and Reinhardt's familial affection that proved to frighten him at first. But it wasn't enough to get him out of his slump, and everyone began to show signs of worry. During missions he would be fierce, a killing machine, the ruthless assassin that he was raised to be, but outside of that he was isolated from everyone else. It was making Jesse ache horribly.

  
Hanzo never realized how beautiful he looked to Jesse, with his hair messy and knotted from battle and his eyes burning with passion. Or the way his eyes would crinkle adorably when he was told a particularly funny joke. Or the way he would snort if he was laughing too hard. He hated the way Hanzo would look at his own reflection with disgust, like he was a gross object and not the most gorgeous man Jesse had ever seen. He was resolved to make Hanzo think differently about himself, to show him that he was absolutely stunning.

  
One day he pursued him, and insisted that they have a little drinking party as an indulgence for working their asses off every single day. Hanzo had been briefly reluctant, seeing as his alcohol tolerance was weaker than it had been when he was fully human, but Jesse assured him that he wouldn't push Hanzo to drink if he didn't want to. It was more or less a way to get the ninja alone, to learn more about him without making it seem off putting. He was still learning to trust again, the brand of the Shimada clan giving him the urge to stay away from people rather than engage them.

  
So they met together under the moonlight at the Watchpoint in Gibraltar, whiskey sat between them as their shot glasses lay untouched and casual conversation flowed between them. There was no rush to their words, no fear of being caught outside by anybody, just a simple talk that set them both at ease and made it easier to be open.

  
"I... Do miss my home, sometimes," Hanzo admitted softly, brushing a hand idly over his face mask as his eyes went glossy. Jesse reached a hand to his shoulder, hesitating before placing it down as Hanzo made no attempt to brush him away. "With Genji... Sneaking out to play arcade games, coming home and having my hair brushed by my mother..."

  
"You ain't gotta tell me if you don't wanna..."

  
Sensing his discomfort, Jesse went to put his hand away, but Hanzo leaned into him more with a soft noise of protest. "Genji would always win small prizes to woo those he adored while I was subject to punishment for my actions... I miss my family dearly, but not those who controlled us." Hanzo's eyes closed, a notable anger bristling the hairs on the back of his neck, and he took a deep breath before opening them once more and turning to Jesse. He looked guarded, as if he was waiting for Jesse to pull out a knife and take advantage of his weakness, but all Jesse did was pull him in closer.

  
"Genji was yer little brother, right?"

  
"Yes. He was the one I sacrificed my life for, but I still have a purpose yet."

  
A hand entwined with Hanzo's, and a brief moment of vulnerability crashed over them.

  
"I have become a monster, a weapon, as a means to destroy the Shimada Clan and nothing more."

  
Jesse felt anger roar in his veins at Hanzo's calling himself a monster, but willed himself to quell it as he felt Hanzo vibrate in his arm. "Hanzo, yer the most beautiful man I've ever seen," Jesse spoke, Hanzo freezing in his arm and staying stock still for moments. It made Jesse anxious, feeling as if he had upset the archer and he was about to storm off, but that wasn't the case.

  
"... You are wrong."

  
The breath he was holding left him in a heavy rush, and he resisted the urge to press Hanzo to his chest as he shook his head. "I'm not lyin', Hanzo. You've got such beautiful eyes, that gleam when you've got lil' crinkles in yer eyes-"

  
"McCree-" 

  
"-and yer hair looks so silky and soft, even after it's been matted to hell-"

  
"-Jesse, stop-"

  
"-and it don't matter that you've got cybernetics placed over some of yer skin, that doesn't make you any less stunning-"

  
"-enough, Jesse!"

  
His voice quieted down as Hanzo shook more violently in his arm than before, whether it be from anger or sadness or both. "I am none of those things," he hissed, pain lacing his voice as he glared at Jesse. "You are wrong. How can I be beautiful when I am not even human? You fool yourself." Hanzo went silent after his final statement, and he looked down before Jesse gently took his chin and angled him up. "The heart of a man is still in you, Hanzo," he whispered, deep brown eyes boring into Hanzo's as he looked up at him. "You've done nothin' but blow me away at every step. It don't matter if you got flesh or if you got metal, there's still a beating heart in that chest and I know it."

  
Hanzo glared at him more defiantly, refusing to believe him, before a hand was placed to his chest and warmth radiated from where he was touched. A rapid pulse, beating heavily and quickly as Hanzo felt heat rise to his cheeks. "I can feel it, and I can even ask Angie, but I don't gotta. Cause I trust you enough to know you would never lie to me," Jesse breathed, staring expectantly at Hanzo. Waiting for an answer.

  
"... It is my heart. My actual one."

  
Hanzo felt fingers probe the latches on his face mask, and he allowed Jesse to take it off as his scarred mouth and lower face came into view. As a symbolic gesture, his face was cut to "prevent him from denying the clan ever again". Angela did a hell of a job making sure his face healed up properly, but the scars haunted Hanzo every day. With Jesse, however, he felt as if he were young again, with an unblemished face and a flesh body that sung with the attention he was being given.

  
"Gorgeous... Every bit of you, darlin'," Jesse mumbled, stroking the sensitive flesh softly before tracing Hanzo's bottom lip with his thumb. Hanzo trembled only slightly now, unused to such tender treatment, and closed his eyes to keep out the image of Jesse looking at him as if he were the whole world. This man made him feel so much love, so much weakness that it made his stomach twist, but when he was pulled close he melted without a care in the world. "Jesse... Why are you treating me like this?" he rasped, rubbing his eyes against the soft shirt Jesse was wearing before a hand came into his hair and gently tugged it out of the ponytail he always tied it into. "Because I love you, Hanzo... Everyone here loves ya too."

  
They were wrapped tightly against each other, whiskey forgotten entirely as the waves crashed methodically against the cliff Gibraltar was based on.

  
"You can't love me... Nobody can."

  
"Ana adores ya, Hanzo. Gabriel is always talkin' bout how you behave so much better'n me, and Torb has even said some nice stuff about ya. It's just that you don't choose to hear it."

  
His face was lifted once more, and Hanzo looked right at Jesse instead of keeping his gaze lowered.

  
"So listen closely, honey. Yer the sweetest, cheesiest, most amazing man I've ever had the privilege o'knowin'. You make the worst jokes I've ever heard, but when you laugh the whole world stops n' looks like you're a damn miracle. Cause ya are. And you just don't think ya are."

  
Jesse leaned in closer, and Hanzo found himself surging with affection for the man in front of him. His special person, the one he trusted more than anybody.

  
"You've got a deadly aim, and yer built like a damn tree, I bet you could lift me and still walk like yer carrying nothin' at all."

  
Jesse's eyes lowered to his lips, and it was all the initiative Hanzo needed before he was pressing their mouths together, silencing Jesse's rambling and kissing him like his life depended on it. It was messy, tongue and teeth clashing together sloppily with inexperience on Hanzo's end and desperation on Jesse's end before they parted. Hanzo's slight scruff scratched against Jesse's developing beard as they shared light pecks before Jesse pulled back and pulled him close again.

  
"Hanzo...-"

  
"I love you too, Jesse... I only hope that I can be someone you do not regret loving..."

  
A shocked look passed Jesse's face, and Hanzo laughed softly at the rumbling growl he received for his comment.

  
"I would never regret lovin' someone like you."


End file.
